Pension scheme accounts

In a world of volatile markets, regular changes to accounting standards increased scrutiny from audit regulators and the complexities of pension scheme accounts, it can be difficult to keep on top of your pension accounting and financial reporting.

To ensure you stay ahead, we provide a full range of services and insight into every aspect of pension accounting. We’ve worked with a broad range of pension schemes that have felt the benefit of our advice. Our independent, in-house technology also provides clarity and focus for your pension scheme accounts.

Our pension scheme accounts services are based on a culture of providing all our clients with high quality, professional service through strong personal relationships and tailored solutions while remaining competitive on service costs.

Our advice on defined benefit pension schemes includes:

• advice on the choice of actuarial assumptions and the sensitivity of the results to changes in the key assumptions
• accounting figures under IAS19, FRS100-105 and a range of overseas GAAP, including US GAAP
• modelling the projected accounting position to allow the company to manage its scheme in the context of the rest of the business
• consolidation of UK and international pension arrangements for the Group’s disclosure note
• accounting figures for the disclosure of directors' benefits.

We also provide a range of pension accounting services in relation to post-retirement medical plans and share-based payments.  As well as carrying out the necessary calculations for reports and accounts, we can advise on the choice of underlying assumptions and the sensitivity of the results to changes in assumptions..

Research

To assist clients in setting their own assumptions we prepare an annual research series of the key actuarial assumptions used by FTSE350 companies for DB pensions schemes.

We have developed an interactive modelling tool, Illuminate, to help Finance Directors understand and quantify the factors influencing the financial position of their sschemes. It also allows an instant assessment of the sensitivity of their pension scheme accounts to the year-end assumptions so that the Finance Director can make a fully informed decision on the optimal approach.

We carry out annual surveys of the assumptions adopted by UK universities for determining the value of their pension liabilities for accounting purposes. The surveys focus on universities which operate Self Administered Trusts (SATs) and look at the significance of these schemes in the context of the overall finances of the university as well as at the assumptions used in their accounting disclosures.